COMMUNITY NEWS: Taunton French Circle

COMMUNITY NEWS: Taunton French Circle

AFTER a great deal of hard work and careful planning, Taunton’s new French Circle can now proudly claim to be well and truly ‘en route’.

So far, the circle has had four well attended and lively meetings held entirely in French, and the aim will be to showcase all aspects of French and French-speaking culture wherever it is active on the globe, and to give the opportunity to our Francophile members to be totally immersed in those activities.

The first meeting was themed around French music and the second, in October, was a delightful illustrated talk about walking the Pyrenees from west to east. For Christmas, the circle tasted traditional French ‘bûche de Noël’ cakes and sang French carols with the guest singer and guitar player Sandra Hammond.

On Saturday, January 7 the group was delighted to welcome Chloé Laborde, Associate Lecturer at Exeter University, who gave a very thorough and fascinating talk on the 2017 French elections and the intricate French electoral system.

The evening was deliciously rounded off with the traditional French cake ‘la galette des rois’, each complete with gold paper crown, to celebrate Epiphany. The guests truly appreciated this traditional celebration!

There is a great programme lined up for 2017 starting on February 4 with the locally well-known folk singer and choir leader Yvette Staelens who will teach the group how to sing and enjoy traditional popular French songs, followed on March 4 by a talk on the Cathars by French native of the Languedoc region, Claude Bernaus.

On April 1, the circle will be entertained by a band from Exeter ‘D’Accord’ who with their French caller, Christine, will teach members how to dance traditional folk dances.

On May 6, there will be a talk on ‘Exposition Photographie – Paris’ by Chris Hamilton, who will have just returned from his visit to the exhibition.

The last session of the year will be on June 3 when members will all meet for a ‘pique-nique’ and a game of boules!

The monthly meetings are held in Staplegrove Village Hall and start at 7.30pm.

You will find more details and how to contact the circle on the website, www.TauntonFrenchCircle.com.

If you love the French language, ‘la Francophonie’ and its culture, you are most welcome to join the circle!

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